Including Students with Severe Disabilities in Music Classrooms

Learn About Needs, Goals, and Preferences

Learning about a students’ needs, goals, and preferences is important when working with any student with disabilities, it is especially important when working with students with severe disabilities. Some students with severe disabilities are diagnosed with rare disabilities often not covered in teacher preparation courses specific to working with students with disabilities. Collaborating with teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents will assist music teachers in learning about a student’s unique needs, including any medical protocols that may be required during the school day (see Draper, 2019, for more information about collaboration in inclusive music classrooms).

Since students with severe disabilities have needs across multiple areas of functioning, learning about their needs in each area will be helpful to prepare for the school year. For instance, if a student who has limited mobility you will need to think about how you can adapt and modify any activities that include movement so this student can fully participate. Other students may have Alternative Augmented Communication devices they use to communicate; these devices can be programmed ahead of time to add specific words for the student to participate in discussions related to music terminology.

Adapting the Physical Environment

Arranging the physical environment to improve mobility in the classroom will increase access to materials, instruments, and equipment for all students, particularly those with severe disabilities who also have mobility needs (Jellison, 2015). With its roots in architecture and design, universal design (UD), a term coined by Ronald Mace, was first developed during the barrier-free movement of the 1950s as World War II veterans returned to their communities (Center for Universal Design, 2008). The seven principles of UD (equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space appropriate for use) guide us to design physical environments—including music classrooms—in a way that can they be used by everyone (Center for Universal Design, 2008; Jellison, 2015).

When adapting the physical environment, consider these principles of UD as you walk around your classroom. Could a student using a wheelchair get materials from shelves? Could a student using a walker get to their assigned seat without tripping? If not, what materials can be moved so these tasks are possible? In rearranging the physical environment, you increase access of materials, instruments, and equipment for all students, not just those with severe disabilities.

Create Opportunities for Peer Interactions

Students with severe disabilities who spend most of their day in separate classes have limited opportunities for interactions with their same-aged peers. Inclusive music classrooms offer opportunities for peer interactions between students with and without disabilities but only when purposefully planned by the teacher (Draper, 2017). This is important, because students with severe disabilities often have more interactions with paraprofessionals than their peers (Ryndak et al., 2014). There is substantial research in the general education and special education literature documenting the academic and social benefits of peer-assisted learning strategies for students—both with and without disabilities (e.g., Bowman-Perrott, Burke, Zhang, & Zaini, 2014).

While there are few studies documenting the use of peer-assisted learning strategies in inclusive music classrooms (Draper, Brown, & Jellison, 2019; Jellison, Brooks, & Huck, 1984), the results of these studies were positive, indicating that students with and without disabilities engaged in positive peer interactions. These studies also guide how to structure group work to be successful. The authors of both studies recommend to carefully select partners, choose tasks that all students are capable of completing, explicitly teach students how to work together and ask for help, establish rules for working together, and provide regular opportunities for students to engage in structured peer interactions (Draper et al., 2019; Jellison et al., 1984). It is also recommended that these activities begin early in the school year; this prevents typical students from developing negative attitudes of their peers with disabilities—through having positive interactions with each other, typical students will have increased positive attitudes toward students with severe disabilities (Jellison, Brown, & Draper, 2015; Jellison et al., 1984).

When creating lesson plans, opportunities for peer interactions can take several forms—in pairs or small groups, and short bursts of interactions or long-term projects. Simple ways to add peer interactions are to have students discuss questions that previously you would have asked to the whole class. They can simply turn to their neighbor and have a short discussion for about a minute before refocusing the class to share their ideas. Students can reflect on concepts, create, and practice together, all within the context of a lesson in pairs or in small groups. It may seem chaotic at first, but as the students continue to work together, they will get better and more efficient. Ensure that typical students paired with students with severe disabilities know how to communicate and possibly even prompt their peers; working with a paraprofessional to teach the typical students how to take on some of the roles of the paraprofessional can be highly effective at increasing positive interactions between students.

Create Opportunities for Meaningful Music-Making Experiences

Sometimes, students with severe disabilities can be left to watch their peers rather than participate amongst them. When including students with severe disabilities in music classrooms, it is important to ensure that these students are participating alongside their typical peers in meaningful music-making experiences. This may mean writing additional parts that are easier for students with severe disabilities to play that fit within the overall ensemble part of the class. For students with severe disabilities who have limited verbal skills, an instrument or a movement part may need to be added to a vocal arrangement to allow those students to participate with their peers.

Students with fine motor needs may require the use of adapted instruments (Darrow, 2011). As students age into using wind instruments, adapted mouth pieces may be necessary for students with oral motor needs to play with their peers. As recommended above, collaborating with teachers, parents, and paraprofessionals will help you determine what equipment is required for students with severe disabilities to participate more fully in an inclusive music classroom.

When adapting activities, instruction, and materials for students with severe disabilities, ensure that you are making age-appropriate changes and changes that treat students with severe disabilities with respect. Don’t use instruments designed for very young children if the student with severe disabilities is in upper elementary or middle school—give them the same instrument as their peers, making modifications as necessary. Also, no one likes doing the same thing over and over again in one lesson. For example, if you include a “band” to accompany a movement activity to allow a student with severe disabilities to participate in playing instruments rather than moving, ensure that they can participate in a variety of ways within that band rather than just playing one instrument the entire activity while watching their peers dance.

Students with severe disabilities often need additional time to process and learn compared to their typical peers; be sure to continue to provide many opportunities for them to be successful. Once they are successful, share those moments with paraprofessionals, teachers, and parents. Also, facilitate the transition from your music classroom to the next music classroom. You will discover effective ways to adapt instruction, materials, and equipment that a student’s next music teacher can benefit from as that student enters their classroom.

Including students with severe disabilities successfully in inclusive music classrooms takes time and planning to ensure that their needs are being met. With careful consideration, these students are able to participate in quality music-making experiences alongside their typically developing peers. It is important for us as music teachers to ensure that all students receive access to the music curriculum and have opportunities to engage in quality music-making experiences.